Newbie with a bunch of questions...

[sofakng]

I'm a Taru White Mage, level 4. (just got level 4)

So far I'm only using my starting equipment and my starting spell (Cure).

I'm going to sell my crystals on the auction house for some gil.

Should I buy new spells, armor, or a new weapon?

Also, where should I level-up at? Right now I'm at East Sarutabaruta. Should I stay here until level 10?


Btw, I'm on Midgardsormr in case that matters.

[PetriW]

Hmm, at 4 there isn't that much you can upgrade yet...
You should buy a shield (VERY important), a better club, I bought a robe. Later as the item become available buy some belt, a cape and an adventurer cap. Later when you can buy level 8 armor it's a tough call if you should or shouldn't, it's not really needed but you could potentially sell them back on the AH at a good price, I bought it the first time I leveled my whm but not the second (switched server), a good club gets you far.
As for spells just buy all that are available, it won't be until the bar* spells that you will find that you lack money and those you can buy as need arises imho.

[sofakng]

Ok, any advice on which shield I should try buying? I have about 340 GIL (just sold my first stack of 12 earth crystals, heh).

EDIT: What should I do with my other items such as insect wings, rabbit hides, honey, and rarab tails? (oh, and I have a 2Leaf Mandra Bud as well).

[Altisa]

Quests!

After seeing your post, I felt I just had to respond, as the items you listed were all parts of some very good low-level quests in Windurst. First take an Insect Wing, Two-Leaf Mandragora Bulb, and a Rabbit Hide, to a TaruTaru standing over a Cardian laying on a table in the Manusary in Windurst Woods (can't remember the name, sorrury ^_^). He will give you some money for those three items, and start you on a series of quests there.) Second, take the Rarab Tail and speak to the Star Onion Brigade. They are a group of kids that are standing behind some Warehouses in Port Windurst. They will give you a very nice neck item, the Justice Badge, that among other things is 3 mind, a great neck item for both WHM and RDM, and good for anyone else for that matter. That also leads to another quest, though the spell you get would not be immediately useful for you, except as AH fodder, or if you want to save it if you plan to sub BLM or RDM some day.

EDIT: OH...and the Honey can be eaten, it speeds up your MP regen rate a tad, and I believe there is a quest for that as well, but I am not familiar enough with it to give you the scoop.

Altisa
17th Mithra RDM of Leviathan

[PetriW]

Ok, any advice on which shield I should try buying?

Well, at the start you can only buy one shield and it's +1 version, +1 is rare and too expensive so buy the 1 def shield. When you have the level buy a 2 def shield.
Note that the 1 def shield may be cheaper from a vendor than at the AH so check there first (docks in Windurst, near spell vendor), same goes for vendor spells.

[sofakng]

Thanks for the information...

What about fighting areas?

I'm level 5 and East Sara<something> (outside Windurst) is very scarce on monsters.

The only monsters I can find are eiher the low level bumblebees (or tiny margordoras), or those darn Yagoda's those kill me....

Any suggestions?

[Calianeri]

As a white mage you'll have to kill things that are rated easy or decent. You'll make up in quantity what you lose in per-kill XP. After tiny mandragoras and bumblebees, move on to rarabs and carrion crows, then crawlers, then mandragoras and giant bees. The Yagudos will be much easier in just a couple levels. East Saru is really well-laid out for leveling -- the farther you are from Windurst Woods, the tougher the monsters are. The only time you might get into a rut is level 9-10 (solo). At that point, try the areas around the northernmost tower in East Saru, and inside the Southeast Tower (the one closest to Windurst Woods).

And a good hammer will help A LOT. There's a level 4 maul, and then the level 5 bronze hammer. Don't use a wand while you're soloing, it will just slow you down.

[sofakng]

Ok, thanks for the advice...

Can you recommend any other quests for me? I did the free hat quest, justice badge quest, and a few other quests for gil.

I'm located in Windurst and I'm a level 6 white mage in case anybody missed it above.

[Pilsbane]

PetriW's advice is highly valuable. For spells, always compare prices between Vendors and the Auction House. For example on my server the spell Raise sells for 10000 at the AH in Bastok although you can buy the same exact spell off of a vendor in Selbina for just under 6000.

Another example was Cure II. Under 700 from vendor, but 1000 at the Auction House.

Just be a smart shopper and don't let people make money off your own ignorance.

[sofakng]

Yeah, some auction prices are waay too high. Mostly spells and such...

What kind of other equipment should I be shooting for? I got a bunch of rare drops and I should have about 2000 gil to spend on new equipment.

Right now I have a robe, bronze hammer, justice badge, lauan shield... (everything else is newbie I think).

What should I buy next?

[Letum]

As a level 13 whm I do fine with the level 5 hammer (about to change for +3 wis wand), a Lauan Shield (Do the Pugil Scale quest [http://ffxi.allakhazam.com] and upgrade to that at level 14), a Robe (San d'Oria quest..I'm cheap), and from the AH I bought a Bloodstone (+5 HP belt), 2 Ascetic's Rings (+1 mnd each), and a Cape (1 Def Back). These all cost about 1500 together (the rings were 1,000). The rest is the starting gear. I'm about to buy the level 11 gear from the AH (Doublets are actually cheaper at the AH by about 400 gil). Other than that, my funds go to spells. Whatever gear you buy you can always sell back for the same price later when you outgrow it.

[sofakng]

Thanks for the suggestions again...

I just hit level 9 last night...


Regarding an above post-- Would it be faster to group in the canyon, or solo at east sart? (at level 9)

Also any other suggestions for equipment and such would be greatly appriciated